Public education and teachers are under attack in this
country. An occupation that houses
predominantly women is the direct target of a male-dominated system. Is the drop and halt of this profession as
seen in the statistics above due to economics? That may be partly responsible.
But, as the gender-defining roles within our society become even more blurred,
we feel that those in power are feeling the potential loss of their
hierarchical stature and are seeking to retain their positions. The
people found at the helm of the warship , which are using public education as a means to an end ,
are all white males of immense privilege.
Here is a sample:

The masters of pushing vouchers, charters, and privatization
are the Koch Brothers. They are white
male whose net fortune is $43 Billion. The Walton Foundation, a white wealthy
family who runs Walmart have a net fortune of $152 Billion. Eli Broad, another
white male who net worth $7.2 Billion opened the Broad Academy, which trains
Superintendents to run schools like business models. In fact, one of his illustrious graduates, John Deasy,
just resigned in a cloud of mismanagement as the Los Angeles Unified School
District Superintendent. Rupert Murdoch another white male whose net fortune is
$12.5 billion sought to join in partnership with InBloom to steal our
children’s data and sell it to 3rd party vendors. We are also going to include Bill Gates, a
white male whose net fortune is $82.4 Billion because he is sadly behind the
machine that is the Common Core and abusive high stakes testing that comes with it.

We cannot, of course, forget Arne Duncan, a white male, who
continues to insult women, specifically mothers and grandmothers, and we are
sure most of the men running ALEC are white males of privilege (that will
probably be another blog post in the future).
Here are a few you may NOT know:
Rex Sinquefield, a white male, who
will not divulge his billion dollar net worth has led a well-funded
effort to privatize public education in Missouri. Mike Bloomberg, white male with a net worth
of $33 Billion created a Leadership Academy for instant Superintendents and
Principals who run schools like CEO’s. He also was mayor of New York City and ran the
NYC school system like a dictator, creating the false narrative of the NYC
Miracle. David Welch, our last
highlighted white male, who also won’t divulge his multi-million dollar net
worth financed the Vergara case in

California that is attempting to strip
teachers of their due process rights.

We are guessing that you SEE the army seeking to destroy,
privatize, and capitalize on a public education system that employs over 73%
women. The army waging this war is an
army of white men of privilege who have some very deep money pockets. They use
false rhetoric in their propaganda against America’s teachers and public
education. They sadly find women like
Campbell Brown, Michelle Rhee, and even Whoopi Goldberg to shill their fake
stories and spew their rhetoric. They
want to take away the rights of teachers to speak freely for children in
schools with their attacks on a teacher’s right to due process. They don’t want
women to speak freely or be able to offer their opinions on the education of
children. They want to destroy public
education and replace it with corporate education so that they can pay teachers
meager wages and exploit their labor. They want to standardize our education
system so that their corporations can create the tools that standardize OUR
CHILDREN. They want women to be quiet as
they abuse, blame, and punish their children, as they close their schools, and
fleece their public education system until it runs it into the arms of
privatization. As Diane Ravitch so
eloquently says time and time again, “they have the money, but we have the
people.” We will not go quietly, we will
fight every step of the way because we recognize that part of this war you wage
on public education is a war on women in this country. We will not be silenced!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Be Prepared

Women United 4 Public Education

Think of the people who are fighting to save public
education. Who comes to mind?

Diane Ravitch, Karen Lewis , Carol Burris , Mercedes
Schneider, Jeanette Deuterman of New York who spearheaded the largest opt out
movement in the country, the women of United Opt Out, the women of Journey for
Justice, the Badass Moms of Chicago, the women who run the Badass Teachers
Association, the women of Alliance for Quality Education, and the women who
head the national teachers unions

One over looked issue
in the fight to save public education is that the profession is made up of over
75% women. Now turn your mind to who is
leading the fight to privatize public education for profit. Eli Broad, Bill Gates, and the Koch
Brothers. What do they all have in
common? They are wealthy white
males. Women (educators, mothers,
grandmothers, and sisters) are now fighting with one collective voice and they
are saying, “OUR CHILDREN AND OUR SCHOOLS ARE NOT FOR SALE!

Sadly, over the last year we have also seen Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan insult Suburban moms and as of last week America’s
grandmothers. The war on public
education is a war on many fronts: A war
against our urban communities, a war against communities of color, a war
against teachers unions, a war against parents, a war against students, and a
war against women. If a profession that
sees women as 75% of its force is being attacked, blamed, punished, and
destroyed it is now a war against that gender.
What the likes of Broad, Gates, Duncan, and the Koch brothers don’t get
is that when you mess with children you will ignite women. For when you mess with our children, their
livelihood, their happiness, and their well-being – be prepared to wrestle a
tigress!

Thank you for joining us
Please follow us on Twitter @WU4PE
Please hop onto our public Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/Womenunited4publiceducation/

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Welcome to Women United 4 Public Education

We saw a distinct need to unite the many strong women who are fighting for public education. We hope to create a space where all women, who are involved in the fight to save our public schools from the grips of greed, can unite in one voice - educators, mothers, grandmothers, and sisters.

Thank you for joining us
Please follow us on Twitter @WU4PE
Please hop onto our public Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/Womenunited4publiceducation/